


Secrets of the Beyond

by BCI603, phieillydinyia



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: AV Club, Black Blood, Charades, Comfort, Drama, F/M, Horror, Humor, Hurt, Jancy, Jopper, Kinda self harm, Lumax, Mileven, Mind Flayer is a bitch, Mystery, Nightmares, OC's - Freeform, Possession, Revenge, Romance, Stranger Things S3 (before S3 came out), Supernatural - Freeform, Uhhh even together we're not good at tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2020-10-25 00:51:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20715365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BCI603/pseuds/BCI603, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phieillydinyia/pseuds/phieillydinyia
Summary: Mike caught a glimpse of what was behind it; a dark, terrifying, shadow - before everything faded to black... Four months after El has closed the gate, the kids have settled into a more normal life. But the Mind Flayer has other ideas, he's grown stronger, more sinister. He won't let the girl get away with what she's done, he wants revenge. And he knows exactly how to get it...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone!
> 
> Welcome to phieillydinyia 's and BCI603 's first story!
> 
> It's phieilly here (cuz BCI apparently hates A/Ns on the first chapter) - so I'd just like to say: thank you for clicking on this. I know there's a lot of fluff at the beginning, but there's more suspense in later chapters so... enjoy the fluff. It contains Funny Dustin anyway.  
______  
Okay so this was posted on Fanfiction on December 29, 2017 so... yeah, we're very late posting this here, but here we are! Hope you guys enjoy!

Mike Wheeler waited somewhat impatiently outside his house, leaning against the bricked wall, eyes scanning the quiet road in search of a certain car.

Lucas, Will and Dustin were waiting with him as well, if you could honestly call it waiting.

Lucas and Dustin were caught up in a wrestling match, rolling around on the grass, while Will stood by the side and cheered on whoever happened to be winning.

Mike rolled his eyes at their childishness, but even _he _couldn't stop a wide grin spreading on his face. How could he be unhappy today? In less than an hour, he's going to see _her_.

And that's when he saw it; the familiar truck ricketering its way into the Wheeler residence.

The other boys saw it too, quickly pausing their fight and leaping up from the ground, casually dusting the mud and grass off their clothes.

Mike was the first one to reach the car as it halted in the driveway.

Hopper's fed up face stared back at him. "Okay, kids, get in," he sighed. Being the chauffeur to these annoying kids every Saturday was not his favourite activity, but not many other people were available to take on the job.

The four kids immediately started clamouring and arguing over who got the front seat.

"Hey!" Hopper's mildly infuriated voice rang out, shutting them all up instantly. "Will's in the front. The rest of you in the back."

These caused an uproar of complains from the boys, sans Will who smugly got comfortable in the passenger seat. While the other three piled into the back.

And then they were on their way.

Mike, sat directly behind Hopper, leaned forward eagerly, adamant to know everything. "How is she doing? Has missed us? Did she like that book that I gave her last week? Is she going-"

"Look, kid, can you not wait fifteen minutes?" Hopper shot back.

So Mike held in his excitement, staring out the window as the world around him became less busy and bustling, to more quiet and secluded; they weren't far away from the cabin now.

The car came to a stop in the middle of the woods, and everyone reluctantly got out.

This was the worst bit; the five-minute walk through the forest they had to endure without the car.

Hopper, trusting the kids who keep up, strolled on ahead, minding his own business.

The boys stayed just behind, in a clump, talking excitedly about their last D&D match.

About two minutes in, Mike started to drift off from Lucas' current topic of complaining about how Max wasn't with them (it wasn't all about how El hadn't quite warmed up to her, there just wasn't enough room in the car).

Mike shivered slightly, suddenly noticeable of how cold this particular day in March actually was.

He pulled his coat tighter around himself, trying to prevent it.

"Hey, you okay?" Dustin asked, noticing his friend's sudden shiftiness.

"Yeah," Mike repeated, matter-of-factly. "It's just cold."

"Yeah, I guess, but we'll be there soon," Dustin reminded him, and they both shrugged it off.

Mike's heart gave a little leap of joy when what had become His Favourite Place came into sight.

And while they were still at least fifty feet away, His Favourite Person smashed open the door - telekinetically or physically he wasn't sure - and came running through the forest towards them - or more directly, _him _\- her face a look of pure joy, that it was every single week.

She ignored Hopper's loud complains to stay inside and jumped rather expertly over the tripwire, ever-growing dark curls bouncing on her head.

And then _was _in his arms, almost knocking them both over with the impact, letting out a happy cry of "_Mike!_"

"El," Mike gleefully returned, inhaling in her scent (His Favourite Scent). The guys groaned at the two, rolling their eyes and muttering under their breath. "I missed you."

"It's been a week." Hopper sighed, exasperatedly. "A _week_."

"It feels longer." El breathed, still clinging to Mike as she gave her dad a look of playful annoyance. Hopper rolled his eyes, motioning for them to follow him in the house.

"Come on in, it's too windy. You'll catch a cold or something." He shrugged to himself and walked inside the cabin, disappearing into his room to put his jacket up.

"What do you guys wanna do?" Mike asked, as the five of them slumped onto the couch.

"Board games?" Will suggested, quietly.

"No, we've played all of the ones we have like three times already." Dustin replied. After a few more suggestions from Mike, Lucas and Will (which were all shut down), a light bulb in Dustin's head went off, and he abruptly stood up.

"Oh! I know! We can play charades! El hasn't played that yet, right El?" She looked at him, confused.

"What is charades?" She asked, her curiosity perking up.

"It's basically this game where you act something out and other people have to figure out what you're doing." He explained.

She stared blankly at him, still confused as ever. He sighed and thought for a couple of seconds.

He tried to mimic riding a bike, and started flailing his arms and legs around, in an attempt to show El.

The boys immediately started pitching in.

"Climbing a tree!" Mike called out.

"Dancing," Will piped up.

"If that's dancing then Lord you need to work on it." Hopper said, finally walking back into the room. "You kids playing charades?" He asked.

El gave him a look and mouthed _duh_ (a word she had learned from Dustin) as if he was supposed to know. He chuckled and held his hands up, sitting on the couch next to Will.

"Are you trying to find toilet paper after taking a dump or something? What the hell?" Lucas guessed, which caused Mike and Will to burst out laughing.

Dustin shook his head and flipped Lucas off when Hopper wasn't looking.

Dustin held his arms out straight and continued doing the kicking motion.

"Um, um, um…" Mike said, snapping his fingers as he tried to think.

"_Um _what?" Lucas asked, snapping his fingers in Mike's face.

"I will _smack_ _you_." Mike retorted.

"Stay on topic!" Dustin exclaimed, speeding up his motion.

"Riding a motorcycle?" Hopper suggested. Dustin shook his head and began moving his legs as if he was marching.

"Oh! Riding a bike!" Mike said, clapping his hands when he figured it out. Dustin finally stopped, leaning over and resting on his knees, breathing heavily.

"It's about time! Jeez you guys are idiots." He shook his head.

El grinned at Mike and kissed his cheek, and he immediately turned pink as the boys chuckled.

"I like charades," she stated, decisively.

Dustin triumphantly punched the air, glad his suggestion was a winner. El giggled.

"Who's next?" Dusting asked.

"I'm good." Mike said, shaking his head.

"I'm not good at it." Lucas said. "I wouldn't look as dumb as you, but you know." He shrugged. Dustin stuck his tongue out at him.

"You go." El said, looking at Hopper. He pointed at himself.

"Me?"

"Yes!"

"I don't know-"

"Come on! It's fun!" Hopper sighed and stood up.

"What should I do?" he asked.

Dustin, smirking, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down to his level, whispering in his ear. If looks could kill, Dustin would be as dead as dead can get.

Hopper groaned internally and stood where Dustin once was. Dustin sat down smugly in Hopper's place.

El watched him intently as he started moving his arms in a circular motion and kind of started jumping.

"Uh, fishing?" Will asked, eyebrows raised.

"What?" Mike deadpanned. "Uh, skydiving? I don't know."

Will stared at him, baffled. "How is _that _more normal than fishing?"

"Swimming with no arms!" Lucas exclaimed, genuinely thinking it was the answer.

"Dude if he was swimming with no arms he wouldn't be moving them." Mike said, rolling his eyes.

"Um, jumping rope?" El asked timidly.

Hopper grinned and pointed at her. "That's right!"

El smiled back, pleased.

"How about you go next, El?" Mike suggested, warmly.

She bit her lip, considering it, and nodded, grinning. He whispered in her ear what she should do and she nodded in agreement, standing up to do just that.

Hopper sat in her spot and she stood where he'd been.

She thought for a couple seconds, and then looked at the stack of books and random magazines sitting on the floor in the corner. She tilted her head down, staring at them, and one by one they floated towards her. She put a couple of them above her head, then a couple more underneath those, making a special pattern.

"Hey that's cheating!" Dustin complained, loudly.

"It doesn't say in the charades rule book that you can't use telekinesis!" Mike argued back, with a smirk.

"Is there even a rule book?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow at the two.

"Are the books supposed to be dancing?" Lucas asked, jokingly.

"Moving house?" Will guessed.

"Does that look like a _house_ to you?" Mike remarked.

"Alright, Mr. Sassy pants." Hopper gave the boy a look that made him laugh.

"Working at WalMart!" Dustin said, confidently. El looked at him, curious as to what _Wal-mart _was.

"Oh! Stacking books on a shelf!" Mike exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. He didn't want El to get upset because no one could figure it out.

El let out a laugh and nodded vigorously, the books and objects falling to the floor with a clatter.

"Hey! No fair, you told her to do that!" Dustin grumbled, picking up a pillow and throwing it at him.

Dustin paused for a moment, thinking. "Speaking of Walmart, I am pretty hungry." He looked over at Hopper. "You got any food, Hopp?"

Before Hopper had a chance to answer, El said, "No."

"What do you mean, no? There's plenty of food." Hopper told her.

"No eggos." She stated, sadly.

There was a pause, before she looked intently at Hopper, giving her best puppy-eyes impression.

Hopper rubbed his face. "Kid, I can't get eggos _now. _I have to keep an eye on you lot."

"We'll be okay!" Lucas insisted.

"Yeah, we're all here," Dustin smirked, and looked at Mike. "It's not like it's just Mike and El alone. We won't let them do anything."

"_Please?_" El begged, not breaking eye contact.

It wasn't like he could resist that look. Hopper sighed, giving each child in the room a long death glare. "Alright. I'm trusting you lot."

A cheer erupted from the cluster of children in the room.

"Don't get too excited," Hopper called back, retrieving his jacket. When he came back in, he added, "I'll only be one thirty minutes tops. I'd stay inside if I were you, it's freezing out there."

The kids all nodded solemnly, as he headed towards the front door. "_Be good_," he warned, before the door shut behind him.

Almost immediately, Dustin grabbed his bag and started plundering through it, tossing random stuff out of it, until he found a little booklet and pulled out a stack of paper.

"So, I've planned ahead, and I was thinking we could do some origami." He stated proudly. The others looked at him like he was crazy.

"What's origami?" She asked.

"It's when you fold pieces of paper to make it look like an object or an animal." Dustin explained. "Like a dog, for example."

"_Origami_?" Lucas asked, making an unimpressed face.

"Why origami of all things?" Will asked.

"I thought it'd be cool!" He exclaimed. "My mom does it, but I'm better at it."

"Sure." Lucas mumbled.

"What was that?" Dustin asked, turning to look at him.

"Uh, nothing." He shook his head and Mike snorted.

"Anyways, I'm gonna show you guys how to make a swan." Dustin informed them, giving them each a piece of paper. Mike rolled his eyes and Lucas just groaned, but took the paper anyway.

Will and El were the only ones to seem somewhat interested in it."Okay so, you fold it like this, like this, like this…"He continued folding the paper and showing them, but Will was the closest, El came next, and that was mainly because Mike and Lucas hardly even tried. "You two suck." Dustin stated, matter of factly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Without further ado, here is chapter two!
> 
> Introducing... THE SUSPENSE!

Fed up of making swans, Lucas suddenly had an idea. Grinning to himself, he grabbed a couple sheets of paper and got to work on his _masterpiece, _rolling the paper into a thin stick.

About thirty seconds later, he sat back, admiring his work, while the others stared at him.

Will and Dustin burst out laughing, while Mike went red, and El asked innocently, "What's _that_ supposed to be?" She looked at Mike, questioningly.

Dustin snickered, "You'd better tell her."

"Uh, um, well," Mike looked like a deer caught in headlights while the others giggled. He racked his brain for a way to explain but nothing came up. Finally, he irritably said, "That's not funny, guys. And I'm _not_ about to explain it to El."

"Oh come on, Mike! Someone has to one day!" Lucas chimed in.

Mike glared at him. "Today is not that day." He said it with such temper, that no one dared pursue the subject.

Lucas, feeling a little miffed, half-heartedly destroyed his creation and tossed it into the bin behind him.

"Um, don't say anything to Hopper about that, okay El?" Mike told her, and she nodded, still confused but decided not to press it any further.

"What shall we do now?" El asked, glancing at all her friends. They still had at least fifteen minutes before Hopper came back with the Eggos.

Will's face cracked into a smile, and he opened his bag to proudly pull out the one object that he'd taken with him.

Dustin stared at the lopsided bundle covered in string. "What is _that_?"

Will gave his friend a resentful look before explaining, "It's my kite that I got for Christmas! I haven't had a chance to use it yet. But it's pretty windy today, and I thought we could teach El."

El smiled, not used to Will being the one to come up with ideas for her. He often stayed silent, and in the background.

"I'd like that," she told Will, encouragingly.

The other boys shrugged.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Lucas commented, running to get his coat, followed by the rest of the group.

El shivered as they stepped outside into the windy and cold atmosphere.

Mike automatically put a reassuring arm around her, generating a few groans and snickers from the others. He ignored them though.

Now all stood on the grass just outside the cabin, Will began rapidly unravelling his kite until it flopped onto the ground. They could now see the kite was actually bright red with green stripes.

Will gently picked it up and placed it in El's hands. She gazed at it in wonder. "H-How does it work?"

"Okay, so," Will guided her in the other direction. "You stand this way, with your back to the wind. And… just hold it up into the air, and let the wind take it."

"How does the _wind _take it?" El asked, perplexed, but she followed his instructions and held the kite up above her head.

"You'll see," Will replied, quietly.

A few seconds later, there was another gust of wind, and the kite was snatched out of El's hands. She gasped as it swiftly floated upwards and away from her, the colourful ribbons flying out around it.

Everyone was too fascinated by the kite to notice the kite gradually slipping away, except Dustin who loudly proclaimed, "_Quick, grab the string!_"

Will pounced on it and managed to seize the handle before it drifted away entirely. Grinning, he handed it to El. "You hold onto this tightly, so it doesn't fly away," he clarified to her.

El nodded and stared steadily at the kite above her, gripping onto the handle. She laughed in enjoyment, the boys all chuckling at her enthusiasm.

El glanced at all her friends, grateful that they were willing to spend time with her, and show her new activities every week. And even though the wind and cold were biting at her, at that moment, she couldn't be happier.

"Hey, let me have a go!" Dustin insisted, and she reluctantly handed it over to him.

Not long after, Lucas was adamant to have a turn. And then Will.

Then it was Mike's turn and Will handed it over.

Mike hadn't flown a kite in years, but with El and his friends, he'd forgotten how much fun it was.

And then something happened.

One minute, he was staring up at the kite, laughing along with his friends.

The next minute, he was seeing an abrupt flash of lightning, right in front of his vision. Mike flinched violently, letting go of the kite.

"_Mike_!" Will yelled, annoyed, chasing after it. He jumped up, trying to reach this string as it rocketed upwards, but being the small kid he was, missed it by miles.

"Oh crap, Will, sorry!" Mike blurted out, blinking away his sudden hallucination. "I just got distracted."

El glanced at him worriedly, noticing his disturbed expression. "You… okay?" she asked.

Mike nodded at her, smiling. "Yeah, El, it's cool."

The teens watched as the kite got tangled up in a tree.

"Aw, _man_," Will groaned.

"Hey, at least it didn't completely float away," Dustin pointed out.

"Yeah, it's fine, I can get that!" Mike volunteered, running towards the tree.

"_Wait_, I could…" El tried to speak up, but Mike was already hoisting himself onto the lowest branch,

Lucas put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, I don't think Hopper will be pleased with you for using your powers out in public."

El frowned, "But… there's no one-"

"You never know," Dustin shrugged. "And, no offence, El, but you'll probably end up ripping up the kite trying to get it back."

Lucas punched him lightly, scoffing. "Don't listen to him, El."

They all stared up to watch their friend rescue the kite, with some amount of amusement.

Mike was already half-way up; it wasn't a very tall tree. He could see the red fabric poking out from behind a branch.

Finally he was high enough to reach it and pulled on the kite. After a few more tugs, he realized it wasn't coming off, and he didn't want to risk ripping it.

Sighing, Mike stepped up a couple of branches until he was level with the kite. He wasn't entirely sure how the kite had managed to get itself so tangled. He began carefully unwrapping it from around the branch, and finally managed to unhook it, whistling with relief that it had all stayed in one piece.

"Hey, guys!" he yelled down below him. "Here you go!" He dropped the kite in their direction.

The group gave out a whoop, running towards to grab the kite.

Snickering, Mike started slowly climbing back down. Half-way down, he got a sudden chill. The same chill he'd gotten earlier. But it was even colder - freezing.

And then the lightning was back, raging before his eyes. Mike caught a glimpse of what was behind it; a dark, terrifying, familiar shadow - before everything faded to black.

Will was the first one to see him falling.

Horrified, he screamed out, "_EL_!"

El turned around and gasped, acting on instinct and telekinetically slowing down his fall just before he hit the ground. She kept him hovering for a second before gently lowering him to the floor, her nose dripping slightly with blood.

She wiped it off and ran over to him, with everyone else, her heart pounding with fear, the kite left forgotten on the bracken.

"Hey, Mike, buddy, you okay?" Dustin yelled, roughly shaking him.

"Is he- is he _breathing_?" El asked Will, who was checking.

Will sat back on his heels. "Yeah, but he's not waking up."

El stared down at his pale, unresponsive face. "Mike? Mike, can you hear me?" when he didn't reply, she turned furiously towards the other boys. "What's wrong with him? Why isn't he waking up?" she demanded, tears leaking down her cheeks.

The boys could only stare back at her with worry in their eyes.

When Hopper got back to the cabin, he heard voices coming from behind the trees, as they gradually got louder. He knew it was the kids so he dropped everything on the porch and made his way towards the voices, only running when he saw them crouching over someone.

"What's going on here?" He demanded, pushing through. He saw Mike unconscious on the ground and inhaled quickly. "What the hell happened?" His first assumption was the kid had fallen out a tree, and knocked himself out.

"I-We were taking turns flying my kite." Will replied, looking up at him.

"Mike had it and he accidentally let it go, so he climbed the tree." Dustin continued.

"And he got it and tossed it to us, but when he was climbing down, he just…passed out." Lucas finished, solemnly.

"So he didn't just fall out and knock himself out?" They all shook their heads.

"I caught him before he hit the ground." El explained quietly, taking a shuddering breath, (_that explains the bloody nose_, Hopper thought) "But he-he won't wake up."

Hopper, trying to keep a level head, quickly considered his options. There was no way he could get any help to the cabin; El's safety was his first priority. "Alright, kids, I'm gonna get him inside."

He put one arm underneath Mike's legs, the other under his back and lifted him up, walking back to the cabin quickly. El opened the door for him and Hopper strided in, putting Mike on the couch, as the kids hovered around anxiously.

"What do we do?" Lucas asked, nervously.

"We can't call for help. Go grab the blanket off your bed, we need to warm him up." Hopper told El, and she ran and got the blanket. Hopper put it over the unconscious boy, tucking it under his feet to keep it there.

"What are we gonna do? Just wait 'til he wakes up? He could die!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Not helping, Dustin," Hopper hissed through gritted teeth. He pinched the bridge of his nose thinking. Why hadn't the kid woken up yet? This wasn't normal.

El was kneeling beside Mike, her eyes never leaving his face. "He's… he's _freezing_," El informed them, worriedly, taking his limp hand in hers.

Everyone was growing more concerned by the minute, unsure what they could do to help.

"It's all my fault," Will suddenly blurted out. "If I didn't take out that stupid kite-"

"No, Will," Lucas said, firmly. "It wasn't _your _fault. It wasn't _any_ of our faults. It probably would have happened anyway." Dustin and El nodded in agreement. Hopper was too deep in thought to even notice their conversation.

"_H'sss_… _cmin_," someone muttered quietly.

Shocked, El looked down at Mike realising he had been the one speaking. She gently shook him. "M-Mike?" She asked. "Are you awake?"

Mike started speaking again in a soft, hardly audible whisper, "_He's_…. _coming_," He was still unconscious though, which scared them all. "_He's_… _coming_… _for_ _you_," his words sent chills down everyone's spine.

"W-What's he saying?" Dustin asked, starting to get scared.

"I-I don't know!" Lucas replied, slightly panicked.

Mike's voice started to raise in volume. "He's… coming. He's coming. He's coming for you!" And then he was almost yelling, "HE'S COMING! HE'S COMING!"

"Mike!" Terrified, El gripped his shoulders, shaking him again. "Mike, wake up, please!"

"HE'S COMING! HE'S-" Mike woke up with a gasp.

"Mike!" Everyone yelled in unison.

He jumped, looking at them wide eyed. After a pause, he asked, "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Lucas asked. He shook his head.

"What's the last thing you remember, kid?" Hopper asked gently.

"Uh…" He bit his lip, thinking. "I remember accidentally letting go of the kite, and climbing the tree to get it."

"That's it?" El asked.

"You sure?" Dustin insisted. Mike nodded.

"What about the dream? Do you remember anything from that?" Will added, quietly.

"What dream?" He asked, sitting up. He kept the blanket wrapped around him, starting to shiver. "Why is it so cold in here?"

"It's….not?" Was Lucas' shaky reply.

Mike looked towards El, and she saw the terror in his eyes. "El?" He asked her, confused.

She brought him into a reassuring hug. "It's okay, there's probably a good…."

"Explanation," Hopper finished for her, although he was rather doubtful; this whole thing had made him very worried.

Something wasn't right here.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg y'all, we didn't forget about Y'ALL but we just straight up forgot to update xD. We are very sorry and hope it won't happen again! xD

El stayed sat on the couch next to Mike, keeping her arms around him while he lent his head on her shoulder.

The rest of the kids were sat around them on the couch edges or the floor. The time for fun and games was long gone.

Finally, Hopper decided he needed to say something. He cleared his throat. "Kid? When I take you all back, I think I should explain what's happened, to your parents."

Mike's head snapped round go look at him, wide-eyed. "No! Please don't tell them," he begged.

"What? Why not?" Hopper asked, baffled by his reaction.

Mike bit his lip. "Because mom will wanna take me to the hospital or something, and it will ruin the sleepover we're all having later! Besides I feel fine. I've warmed up and everything."

Hopper stared at his earnest expression before replying, "I don't know… it wouldn't be right to keep it from them… We don't know what is wrong with you."

"_Please_, Hopper!" Mike sighed. "Please don't mention this to them!"

Hopper frowned, still not quite convinced.

So Mike continued, "Look, I'll… I'll tell them _after _the sleepover is over. That way, nothing gets ruined."

Hopper glanced at all the other boys, who were all nodding enthusiastically. Realizing he wasn't going to win, he told them, "alright, but if it happens again…"

Mike grinned, "Thanks, Chief!"

"But," Hopper muttered. Mike frowned. "We should probably get you kids back home."

They started arguing with him until he said, "Look, if it happens again, Mike is going to the hospital, I don't care what any of you say. And him being all the way out here isn't good. Besides, you all usually leave about this time anyway."

The kids all groaned, but reluctantly got up to get their coats.

El was a little worried to let Mike go after what had just happened.

Mike saw her tense expression and smiled at her, taking her hands. "I'm alright, El, okay? I'll see you next Saturday."

El gave him a small smile back. "Next Saturday."

"Yeah. Is there anything you'd like me to bring for you? So we can try it out?"

El shook her head. "Whatever you bring will be great, Mike," she insisted.

Mike hugged her, feeling like the luckiest boy in the world. What had he done to deserve someone like El in his life?

Oblivious to Mike, El was having similar feelings.

Mike untangled his hands from El's before leaving towards the group, who were all waiting for him.

El watched them walk away, leaving her alone at the cabin once again.

She discovered the Eggos still lying on the front porch from where Hopper had dropped them, and picked them up, taking them inside.

If there was one thing that could ease her mind, it was Eggos.

* * *

Once again that day, Hopper's car pulled up in front of the Wheeler household (Dustin had hogged the front seat this time).

They all yelled a "Thanks!" at Hopper before getting out, and slamming the doors.

Hopper gave a sigh of relief, finally free of all those kids, and drove away. He enjoyed their company, but up to a certain point, and then it got a little annoying. They were quite a handful.

When the four kids walked inside, like usual, Karen was in the kitchen, working on preparing dinner, while Holly was at the table drawing.

Max sat at the table with her, impatiently tapping her fingers against it, leaning her head on her arm. Her eyes lit up at the sight of her friends.

"It's about time!" Max exclaimed, glaring at them. The boys snickered.

"Did you have fun visiting El today?" Karen asked, smiling.

"Yes, mom." Mike responded casually, but Dustin obviously had to go into detail.

"We played charades and made origami and went outside to fly Will's kite while Hopper went to Wal-Mart. Oh! And Mike accidentally let it go when he was flying it and he-" Lucas nudged him, silently telling him to hurry up and shut up. "And he had to climb the tree to get it."

"Oh really now?" Karen raised her eyebrows at Mike.

"Uh, yeah?" It came out like a question. "It wasn't a tall tree, I only had to climb a couple feet." Mike avoided her gaze.

Karen nodded slowly, before focusing back on making dinner.

After dinner, the teens went down to the basement, excited to get their sleepover started.

Grinning, Max dug around in her bag until she found what she was looking for.

"Ah-Ha! Got it!" She held the movie up for them to see, which clearly read _Nightmare on Elm Street. _"I stole this from Billy."

Lucas grinned, and high fived her. "Oh _yes_!"

Will gaped at her. "There's no _way_ we're old enough to watch that!"

Dustin smirked at him. "We can if no one finds out." He glanced at Mike, wordily. "Err… are you okay watching this?"

"Yeah?" Mike replied slowly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Cause of the accident or whatever from earlier." Dustin shrugged.

Mike scoffed. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's fine!"

Upon his approval, the kids gave a whoop and Max hastily pushed the movie into the VHS.

"Oh! What about popcorn? We should totally get some of that." Will said, "Do you guys have any?"

"Er, yeah, in the kitchen," Mike replied.

Will ran upstairs straight away.

Lucas snickered. "He's just trying to miss as much of the movie as possible."

"It's barely even started!" Max exclaimed.

Will came back downstairs ten minutes later with a large bowl of popcorn, and grudgingly sat down to watch the movie with them.

"Miss anything interesting?" he asked.

"_Nope_, we're not at the good parts yet," Dustin responded, which made Will groan.

The five of them chomped through the popcorn, eyes glued to the television (apart from Will who was hiding his face in a pillow - he'd never liked horrors).

Lucas and Max had absent-mindedly snuggled up together, which made Mike a little jealous - he wished El was here for them to do that too.

By the time the movie had ended, Will was hiding behind the couch and Dustin had started snoring (Lucas kicked him awake because it was only nine o clock).

"Okay!" Max yelled enthusiastically, retrieving her movie and putting it back in her bag. "What are we doing next, guys?"

"I've got an idea!" Lucas insisted. He glanced mischievously at everyone in the room. "Let's play… _Truth or Dare_!"

Will groaned again, face-planting the couch in mock despair.

The rest of the group snickered and nodded their heads in agreement.

"Should we get like a bottle or something?" Dustin suggested.

"Already on it!" Mike hollered, dashing up the stairs to retrieve an empty wine bottle that his parents had finished with.

Five minutes later, the teens (including Will who had been persuaded/forced to join in) were sat in a circle around a bottle.

They let Lucas start, who spun the bottle. It stopped on Dustin who sighed. "I'll take a dare," he muttered, eyeing Lucas suspiciously.

"I dare you… to crack an egg over your head!" Lucas declared, causing his girlfriend to snicker.

"Aw, _gross_, man!" Dustin moaned, but still got up to go to the kitchen, eagerly followed by everyone else.

Ted was at a night-shift, Nancy was out with Jonathan, Holly was asleep, and Karen had gone to bed for an early night - so there was no one around to interrupt their game.

Dustin opened the fridge and took an egg out of the box. The rest of the kids tensely watched, as Dustin squinted his eyes shut, held the egg above his head and brought it down on his curly mop of hair, which a _crack_.

The kids burst out laughing as the yolk dripped off him, while he stared back at them grimly.

"Very funny Lucas," he hissed, grabbing a washcloth and rubbing his hair clean.

Sat back around the bottle, Dustin spun it and it landed on Max. He grinned at her.

Max rolled her eyes. "Truth."

"Hm…" He tapped his chin, acting as if he was thinking. "Have you ever cheated on a test? If so, why?"

Max took a deep breath, before replying, "I have, actually. The reason is because Billy and I had an argument one night and I forgot to study. I kinda left the house to get away from him. If I failed, I'd have been kicked out of the class, so I cheated by copying the answers off someone." She shrugged.

Mike and Will stared at her with wide eyes, but didn't try to say anything.

Dustin shifted uncomfortably. "Aw, crap, that must suck man," he retorted.

"You get used to it." She replied.

"You can always come to my house to study if Billy's being a dick." She gave him a smile.

"Thanks, Lucas."

Max brought her gaze to the bottle and gave it a spin. This, time it landed on Will (or half way between him and Dustin, but Dustin shifted to the left slightly to avoid it).

Will sighed, deciding on what would probably be safer. "Okay, I'll do a dare."

"I dare you to… Do ten push ups." She said smugly. The look on his face made the other's burst out laughing.

"Awe man!" He groaned and then attempted to do them where he was sitting. He did about five and gave up, sprawling on the floor in defeat.

"That doesn't even count! You barely went all the way down!" Dustin exclaimed, crossing his arms childishly.

"Like you could do better." Will retorted, panting. Dustin glared at him and shut his mouth.

From his exhausted position on the ground, Will tiredly spun the bottle. It hardly did a full circle before landing on Mike.

"Dude that was rubbish!" Mike protested.

"Whatever, it's your turn," was Will's meek reply.

Mike groaned, "Okay, truth."

Will considered this for a moment, leaning up from the floor to sit properly. "What is…. your _biggest fear_?"

Mike swallowed. "Umm, heights."

Lucas scoffed. "Dude! You climbed a tree like five hours ago!"

"I'm not scared of the height of a tree!" Mike corrected hastily. "It's just like… cliffs and stuff." His face turned pale. "Since, you know… that _incident_."

Most of them looks confused, but Dustin's eyes showed understanding. He had been the one to witness that "incident". It had not been pretty.

Mike shook himself clear of the flashbacks, and spun the bottle. It finally landed on Lucas.

"Dare," he stated proudly.

Mike grinned, thinking hard. Before an idea struck him.

"I dare you," he began, standing up and running across the room to retrieve something from a box. "To wear this!" He held up a blindfold. "And go into Nancy's room and bring something of hers back!"

"And what exactly am I stealing?" Lucas asked, taking the blindfold.

Mike grinned, and whispered in his ear. Lucas' face fell.

He gulped. "O-Okay."

"What is it?" Dustin demanded, but Mike just shushed him and guided them all upstairs.

When they were all stood outside Nancy's bedroom door, Lucas put the blindfold on (Dustin did a very vigorous job of waving his hands around to check Lucas couldn't see).

Lucas took a deep dramatic breath, blindfold fastened around his eyes. "okay, I'm going in".

He found the doorknob and opened the door, carefully stepping inside. He decided to keep the light off - he couldn't see anyway.

Lucas felt his way across wall, while the others peered in, trying to hold back their sniggers.

"Seriously, what did you tell him to get?" Will whisperer.

Mike only smirked. "You will see."

They heard some more shuffling, followed by a scraping noise, followed by a loud clatter (followed by Lucas swearing loudly).

Finally, the black-haired boy returned, carrying something red in his hands, and ripping the blindfold off.

"I think I got the right thing," he declared before glancing down at the object.

Everyone followed his gaze, and everyone instantly burst into fits of laughter (quickly compressing it after remembering Karen and Holly were asleep).

"No way!" Dustin hissed, clutching his side (Will was already on the floor). "You got Nancy's _bra_?" Then he too was on the floor beside Will, hardly able to breathe through his laughter.

Eventually Will, managing to compose himself, suddenly asked, "Hey, Lucas, how do you _know _what a bra feels like?"

"Uhhhhh…." Lucas replied, as words failed him. "I just… do?"

It was Max's turn to fall to the ground, laughter shaking through her.

"Okay, _okay_," Lucas snapped, as all his friends started laughing. "This was fun and all, but now I'm going to put this back. Before Nancy finds out-"

"Finds out _what_?" A cold voice rang out from behind them.


End file.
